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1
Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover a baking sheet completely with tin foil. Place a raised rack on the baking sheet. Lay the bacon strips across the raised rack. Bake the bacon for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pan from oven; set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Place bacon in a food processor, and process until finely crumbled; set aside. Save 2 tablespoons of the grease and discard or use the rest for another purpose.
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2
In a large bowl using an electric mixer, mix reserved bacon grease, butter, and sugars for 2 minutes on medium speed. Add egg; mix for 1 minute. Add maple extract; mix for 1 minute. Add bacon, salt and pepper; mix for 1 minute. On low speed, slowly add flour; mix until just incorporated.
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3
Roll the dough out on a well-floured surface with a floured rolling pin to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter (I used a pig shape). Combine scraps of dough together and roll out and cut again, until you have used all of the dough.
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4
Place cookies on a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet, spacing them about an inch apart. Put the pan into the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven.
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5
Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, before removing to a rack to cool completely.
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6
After cookies have completely cooled, mix all of the icing ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Pour mixture into a decorating bottle. Outline cookie with icing first, then go back and fill in the outline to cover the entire cookie. Place a candy heart on the pig if desired, and then set the cookie aside for the icing to set up.
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7
Allow cookies to set for several hours, giving the icing enough time to completely harden. Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
